Stelle Regna aquilonis, in remotis mundi p...; (Gesta Swenomagni regis et filiorum eius et passio gloriossisimi Canuti regis et martyris (1111 - 1113), 1 (pp. 82-83)) [4867]

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ID 4867
Text Gesta Swenomagni regis et filiorum eius et passio gloriossisimi Canuti regis et martyris (1111 - 1113) Ailnoth of Canterbury
Quotation Regna aquilonis, in remotis mundi partibus abdita, longe diuque paganis tenebantur ritibus dedita, quousque ea de profundo erroris et infidelitatis diuina extraxit clementia. Nam postquam fere omnia occidentis regna, quę Iulius Gaius, Magni quondam Pompeii gener, Ausonio subiecerat imperio, christianis colla subdidere legibus, nationes illę, quę ex aduerso latere Francorum seu Gallorum Saxonumque aquilonalibus consistunt partibus, Suethi uidelicet et Gothi, Normanni atque Isonii, tanto serius fidei signa suscepere, quanto illuc fidei doctores tam pro uictus rerumque penuria quam et pro barbarorum feritate et innata duricia magnipendebant diuertere. Dani uero, qui Gallis Saxonibusque uiciniores existere uidentur, idcirco gentibus prenominatis potiores habentur, quod et ipsi solum necessariis utilius usibus incolunt, fidemque Trinitatis ante, quam illi cognouerunt, isti susceperunt, finesque suos regum nobilium ui et consilio tam presulibus quam et diuini officii ministris ęcclesiis dei ibidem in dies circumquaque adauctis nobilitauerunt, fidemque hactenus susceptam hucusque fideliter uenerando seruauerunt.
Translation The Kingdoms of the North, consigned to the remote parts of the earth, which were long known to be wholly given over to pagan worship, until divine clemency extracted them from the depths of error and infidelity. For after almost all the other kingdoms of the west, which Julius Gaius [Caesar], once son-in-law of Pompey the Great, had subjected to Ausonian rule, had bent their necks to Christian laws, these nations, who, on the opposite side from the Franks or Gauls and Saxons, reside in the northern regions, namely the Swedes and the Goths, the Norwegians and the Icelanders, accepted the signs of the faith that much later, as its teachers took care to avoid them, both on account of the region’s poorness in the necessities of life and the savageness and inborn harshness of these barbarians. But the Danes, who are the nearest to the Gauls and Saxons, are held to be better than the aforementioned peoples, since they cultivate their land more fruitfully, and they took up the faith of the Trinity before the others had heard of it, and, by the force and counsel of their noble kings, ennobled their territory with bishops and ministers of the divine office and churches which rose from all sides in those days, and have hitherto loyally kept the faith which they took up in their devotion. (Translation: Laura Gazzoli)
Summary Ailnoth introduces the North and its relationship to Christianity: its inhabitants are recent converts due to their ferocity and remoteness, and of them the Danes are the most Christian, as they are closest to the rest of Europe.
Quotation source 1 (pp. 82-83)
Temporal Coverage -58 - 1113
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